Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the effect of parental rearing styles on internet addiction among college students, specifically assessing the mediating roles of self-esteem and self-control in the influencing path. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among college students in a city in eastern China in 2022. Chained mediation effect tests, employing Model 6 of PROCESS with SPSS (27.0), were utilized to statistically analyze the pathways of factors such as parenting styles, self-esteem, and self-control that influence Internet addiction. RESULTS: Positive parenting styles served as protective factors against internet addiction, whereas negative parenting styles constituted potential risk factors. Self-esteem and self-control fully mediated the association between positive parenting styles and internet addiction. Conversely, they partially mediated the relationship between negative parenting styles and internet addiction. CONCLUSION: Interventions should attach importance to improving positive parenting styles and reducing negative parenting styles, and aim to cultivate self-esteem and strengthen self-control, which are essential to effectively address internet addiction in college students.